The Wonder Book Of Knowledge Part 21

There are two kinds of spasms, "clonic" and "tonic." In the former, the muscles contract and relax alternately in very quick succession, producing an appearance of agitation. In the latter, the muscles contract in a steady and uniform manner, and remain contracted for a comparatively long time.

The Story in a Honey-Comb[12]

When one thinks of honey one instinctively closes the eyes and a mental picture of fruit trees laden with snowy bloom, of beautiful clover fields, of green forests in a setting quiet and peaceful, comes before the mind so realistic that the delicate perfume of the fragrant blossoms is almost perceptible and the memory of the musical hum of the little honeybee as she industriously flits from blossom to blossom, or wings her homeward way heavily laden with the delicious nectar, rests one's jaded nerves. Into this picture fits closely the old bee master among his old-fas.h.i.+oned skeps, with the atmosphere of mystery that has so long been a.s.sociated with the master and his bees that one is almost reluctant to think of the production of honey as a great commercial industry, employing great factories in the manufacture of beehives and other equipment necessary for the modern beekeeper that he may take full advantage of the wonderful and almost inconceivable industry of the honeybee in storing the golden nectar of the blossoms.

The development of the industry has been very slow; only during the past fifty years has real progress been made, although honey formed one of the princ.i.p.al foods of the ancients, which was secured by robbing the wild bees. During the early history of the United States, beekeeping was engaged in only as a farmer's side line, a few bees being kept in any kind of a box sitting out in the backyard, boarding themselves and working for nothing. Even under such conditions amazing results were often obtained. Lovers of nature and the out-of-doors were attracted by the study of bee life, and early beekeepers were invariably bee lovers.

The mysteries of the hive as revealed in the story of the family life of the bee--typical in many ways of our modern city life--is as fascinating as a fairy tale.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FERTILIZING A PUMPKIN FLOWER]

The average population of the modern beehive varies from forty to sixty thousand, with a well organized system of government. Intense loyalty to the queen mother is apparent in all their activities and arrangements.

The close observer will discover a well-defined division of labor, different groups of bees performing certain operations. The housekeeping operations seem to be delegated to the young bees under sixteen days old, while the policemen are the older ones whose dispositions are not so mild and who would be more likely to detect a stealthy robber. It was this intensely interesting side of bee life that attracted the attention of a clergyman in failing health, forced to seek out-of-door occupation, in the early forties. He began to investigate bee life from a commercial standpoint, and about 1852 devised the movable hanging frame, which entirely revolutionized the bee business, making modern commercial beekeeping possible. Up to this time the box hive and straw skep were the only ones known, the combs being fastened to sticks, or the roof of the box, making it impossible to have any control over the activities of the hive. The new device or frame to which the bees fastened their combs in which brood was reared could be removed, one or all, at any time desired. This opened up undreamed-of possibilities in the bee business, which up to this time could hardly be called an industry.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN ITALIAN ARMY OF BEES]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ITALIAN DRONE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ITALIAN QUEEN]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ITALIAN WORKER

(All are enlarged to about three times their size.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A STRANGE HOME--BUT THE BEES ARE MAKING HONEY]

The man who has been most active in developing practical bee culture and who has contributed more to the growth of the industry in the United States than any other person, lives in Medina, Ohio. In 1865 this man was a successful manufacturer of jewelry in the village of Medina. One day his attention was attracted to a swarm of bees flying over. One of his clerks noticing his interest asked what he would give for the bees.

He replied that he would give a dollar, not expecting that by any means the bees could be brought down. Shortly after, he was much astonished to have the workman bring the bees safely stored inside a box and demand his dollar, which he promptly received, while his employer had the bees and soon developed a lot of bee enthusiasm. The returns from that swarm of bees convinced him that there were possibilities in the bee business, and very soon he gave up the jewelry business to engage in the bee business and manufacture of beehives. In this new move he encountered the opposition of his family and friends, for the general impression was that any man who would spend money or time on bees was either lazy or a fool. Knowing that this particular man wasn't lazy he was called a fool to risk so much on an uncertain enterprise. In his defense he remarked that he expected to live to see the time when honey would be sold in every corner grocery; but we doubt if he expected to see his prophecy fulfilled to the extent it has been, for not only is honey sold over every grocer's counter, his own private brand is sold in all the princ.i.p.al markets of the United States.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A HAPPY HOME OF THE HONEY BEES]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "ALL HAIL, THE QUEEN"]

Shortly after securing his first swarm of bees he commenced the manufacture of beehives in the same room where he had his jewelry business, using a large windmill for power. Soon the business outgrew the small quarters and was moved to the present location of the plant.

Hardly a year has pa.s.sed that additions or new buildings have not been added, and the mammoth plant as it stands today covers sixteen acres of floor s.p.a.ce, giving steady employment to several hundred people, and for many years modern agricultural appliances have gone from this factory to all parts of the world.

The old method of straining honey has long since been replaced by the centrifugal honey extractor, which simply empties the cells of honey, not injuring the combs. The combs are then replaced in the hive to be refilled by the bees, thus saving them the labor of rebuilding the costly structure, increasing the quant.i.ty of extracted honey which a single colony can produce, while comb honey is produced so perfect in appearance as to cause some to believe it to be manufactured by machinery; but comb honey, nature's most exquisite product, comes in its dewy freshness untouched by the hand of man, from the beehive to the table, a food prepared in nature's laboratory fit for the G.o.ds.

As beekeeping developed as an industry, the close relations.h.i.+p to fruit growing and horticulture became apparent, as bees were discovered to be the greatest pollen carrying agents known. The government then began to spend more money on the development of the various branches of agriculture; a Department of Apiculture was established and through the work of this department beekeeping is recognized as one of the most profitable branches of agriculture.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RESULT OF A BEE'S STING]

The intense enthusiasm of this pioneer beekeeper was contagious and resulted in many taking up beekeeping. As no attention had been given to developing a market for honey and production increased, older beekeepers became alarmed and raised the cry that he was making too many beekeepers. Seeing the need for some means of increasing the demand for honey, a small honey business was started to dispose of the product of customers who had no market. Soon a definite educational campaign on the value of honey as a food was started, enlisting the co-operation of beekeepers wherever possible. Immediately the necessity for more care in selecting and marketing honey was apparent.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A LARGE SWARM OF ITALIANS ON A YOUNG LOCUST TREE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ARRANGEMENT OF CELLS IN COMB]

[Ill.u.s.tration: HIGHLY MAGNIFIED EGG]

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN OLD-STYLE HIVE--What is inside?]

The introduction of Italian bees into the United States in the early sixties marked an epoch in beekeeping, as they soon demonstrated their superiority as honey gatherers, their gentleness and other traits proving them more adaptable to domestication and to modern methods of beekeeping. The marked superiority of some colonies over others attracted the attention of beekeepers to the possibility of race improvement by careful breeding, which gradually developed a new branch of beekeeping aside from honey production--that of queen rearing--as it was discovered that improvement of stock must come through the queen mother. The average production of honey per colony has been materially increased, due not alone to improved methods, but to improvement in stock by careful breeders; and there are many beekeepers engaged exclusively in this branch of the industry who enjoy international reputation as breeders of superior strains of queens, and many thousands are annually sent through the mails to all parts of the world. Live bees are s.h.i.+pped by express as easily as poultry or other live stock.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOADING AN UP-TO-DATE CENTRIFUGAL EXTRACTOR]

[Ill.u.s.tration: IN ACTION--FOR A FEW MINUTES ONLY]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A MAN-SIZE HIVE OF ITALIAN BEES]

[Ill.u.s.tration: WE MUST BRUSH THE BEES OFF SO THAT WE CAN SEE THE COMB]

[Ill.u.s.tration: AFTER CELL CAPPINGS ARE CUT OFF--READY TO EXTRACT]

The honey industry is unique in this respect, that there is hardly a part of the United States where one cannot engage in it with profit.

Locality has much to do with the flavor and quality of honey, owing to the different sources from which it is produced. Honey is simply blossom nectar gathered by the bees, distilled or evaporated in the beehive with the same distinctive flavor as the perfume of the blossoms from which it was gathered; consequently we have as many different flavors of honey as plants that bloom in sufficient profusion to produce honey. For this reason it is easy to recognize the distinct flavors of honey produced in different localities. In California orange honey we get the delicate aroma of the orange blossoms, and the water-white honey from the mountain sage has its characteristic flavor. Throughout the states east of the mountains and west of the Mississippi, are produced the well-known varieties of honey--alfalfa, sweet clover and other honeys from fall flowers. From the Middle West and Eastern states comes the matchless white clover honey, ba.s.swood and the dark aromatic buckwheat.

The Southern states produce a mult.i.tude of different honeys, the sweet clover, tupelo, and the palmetto being the most common. The total annual production of honey in the United States as given by the best authorities is approximately 55,000,000 pounds. This, compared with other crop reports, may appear very small, but when considered from the standpoint of the enormous amount of bee labor represented, it is stupendous. Undoubtedly present reports will greatly exceed those given.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "FRESH AIR BEES"--No hive needed.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: QUEEN CELLS--Note size compared with worker cells.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAGNIFIED VIEW OF SECTION OF HONEYCOMB]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SOME OF THE BEST HONEY COMES FROM SUCH LOCALITIES]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A NICE, EVEN FRAME OF BEES]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A MODEL ARRANGEMENT FOR KEEPING BEES FOR PLEASURE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: REMOVING BEES FROM COMB]

[Ill.u.s.tration: SECTIONS OF HONEY AS TAKEN FROM THE SUPERS]

[Ill.u.s.tration: STAGES OF WORK IN BUILDING A SECTION OF HONEY]

Where do Figs Come From?

[Ill.u.s.tration: URUK GIRLS SPREADING FIGS]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TYPICAL SMYRNA FIG ORCHARD]

The fig tree, which is of the mulberry family, belonged originally in Asia Minor, but it has been naturalized in all the countries around the Mediterranean. It grows from fifteen to twenty, or even thirty, feet high.